Thania Paffenholz

Thania Paffenholz is a scholar and policy advisor specializing in peace processes and political transitions. She is the Director of Inclusive Peace, a Geneva-based organization focused on evidence-based research and advisory support for peace negotiations. Previously, she was associated with the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, where she led research on peace and conflict resolution.

Dr Thania Paffenholz
Born	Cologne, Germany
Nationality	German Tanzanian Swiss
Title	Director of Inclusive Peace
Awards	2015 Wihuri International Prize
Academic background
Education	University of Frankfurt
Academic work
Discipline	Intervention strategies in peace processes Civil society in peace and transition processes Research-policy transfer in peace research Evaluation in Peacebuilding
Institutions	Inclusive Peace and Transition Initiative, Graduate Institute Geneva, United Nations, European Union, Swisspeace

Career

Paffenholz has worked on comparative studies of peace processes in various regions, including Mozambique, Angola, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Mali, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Yemen, Egypt, El Salvador, Syria, and Colombia. She has contributed to international peace and security policies, including United Nations initiatives and the United Nations Global Study on Women, Peace, and Security.

She has held advisory roles with international organizations, governments, and non-governmental organizations, focusing on peacebuilding strategies in conflict-affected regions. Paffenholz is also a Senior Fellow at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, and serves as the Chief Field Editor of Frontiers in Political Science.

Her research focuses on inclusive peace negotiations, the role of civil society in peacebuilding, and political transitions. From 2005 to 2010, she led a research project on civil society’s role in peacebuilding, culminating in the publication of the book Civil Society & Peacebuilding: A Critical Assessment (2010).^[1] Between 2011 and 2015, she conducted a comparative analysis of over 40 peace processes, examining the participation and influence of civil society, political groups, and armed actors.

Media appearances

Paffenholz has contributed to Ted.com,^[2][3] Scientific American,^[4] The Pioneer,^[5] Aargauer Zeitung,^[6] and Spektrum.de.^[7]

Prizes

• Wihuri International Prize, 2015, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation
• International Studies Association (ISA) Honour, 2010, International Studies Association

Reviewed journal articles

• Perpetual Peacebuilding: A New Paradigm to Move Beyond the Linearity of Liberal Peacebuilding (2021), Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 17 May 2021: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17502977.2021.1925423
• The Grand Challenge in Peace and Democracy (with Anastassia Obydenkova) (2021), Frontiers in Political Science: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2021.691999/full
• Transfer 2.0: Applying the Concept of Transfer from Track-Two Workshops to Inclusive Peace Negotiations, with Esra Cuhada. 2019, International Studies Review, 24 June 2019
• Unpacking the Local Turn in Peacebuilding: An Agenda for future research? In: Third World Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 5, 857–874, 2015
• Inclusive Politics: Lessons for and from the New Deal, in: Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, Vol.10, No.1, p. 84-89, 2015
• Civil Society and Peace Negotiations: Beyond the Inclusion-Exclusion Dichotomy, in: Negotiation Journal, Vol.30, No.1, p. 69-91, 2014
• International Peacebuilding Goes Local: Analysing Lederach’s Conflict Transformation Theory and its Ambivalent Encounter with 20 years of Practice (2013), in: Peacebuilding, Taylor and Francis, Vol.2, No.1,11-27, 2014
• Nicht-Regierungsorganisationen als Friedensbringer? Möglichkeiten und Grenzen (2010), in: Die Friedens-Warte (German Review Journal), Vol 85, 4, p. 11-27
• Peacebuilding: A Task for Development Cooperation (2006), in: Journal für Entwicklungspolitik (JEP), Vol. XXII, No.3, p. 6-34
• Towards Better Working in Conflict Zones: Introducing the Aid for Peace Approach (2005), in: Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, Vol.2, No.2, with Luc Reychler, p. 4-22
• Peace and Conflict Sensitivity in International Cooperation: An Introductory Overview (2005), in: International Politics and Society/Zeitschrift für Internationale Politik und Gesellschaft, No.4 2005, p. 63-82